Now that summer is behind us, Katie has some new recommendations for school-year reading.

Look at you, Mom! You’ve survived the summer.

You’ve completed the back-to-school shopping. You may have even joyfully snapped a few pictures of your little angels in all their First Day Of School finery. Now is the time to enjoy the steady rhythm of school days and nights. It is ALSO the time to keep those kiddos engaged with reading! Check out these titles for your studious little ones. And don’t forget to fill out those reading logs! (Am I the only mom who consistently forgets?)

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LUNCHROOM

(ages 4-8)

words by Michal Babay, pictures by Paula Cohen

Among the many school supplies your child needs for this year, there is one essential tool that can sometimes be hard to locate: a positive attitude. THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LUNCHROOM is set in the crowded, cluttered cafeteria of an average elementary school. When the students complain to their principal about the midday meal madness, she comes up with an odd solution…make the lunchroom even MORE crowded and cluttered! Those of you familiar with the Yiddish folktale It Could Always Be Worse will love this updated version of that classic. If you’re new to the folktale, you’ll delight in both the humor and the wisdom this book contains.

Babay’s jokes and gags that run through the story supply big laughs. And there is something extra special about Cohen’s illustrations. They feel nostalgic and modern all at once. I’ll be pulling this book off my shelf any time my kids need to remember how lucky they are. And I bet YOU’LL feel lucky to have shared this story with them.

(P.S. Rather than sending in an apple for the teacher this year, consider gifting a copy of this book to your child’s classroom. You’ll be sure to snag them an extra gold star!)

TALES OF BUNJITSU BUNNY

(ages 6-8)

by John Himmelman

I know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but what about when the cover pulls you right in? This bold cover featuring an adorable bunny executing a mighty bunjistu kick grabbed me instantly. How could I resist reading about a bunny practicing this ancient (and clearly fictitious) martial art?

Isabel, the main character, is a young bunny highly trained in the ways of bunjitsu. Rather than telling one long story broken up into chapters, this chapter book is more like a collection of stories or parables. For reluctant readers out there who feel intimidated by long chapter books, this might be a nice entry point. Because the chapters aren’t chronological or interconnected, your reader can flip around, reading the chapters that appeal to him or her most. You might also ask your child to explain the “lesson” each mini story imparts. Like the picture book suggestion above, Bunjistsu Bunny has much wisdom to offer.

THE WESTING GAME

(ages 9-12)

by Ellen Raskin

My fellow moms out there might remember this gripping mystery novel from their own childhoods. I read this Newberry Award winner when I was in fifth grade, and I loved it. I bought it for my oldest nephew when he was 10, and he loved it. And now I am hoping you will share it with YOUR young readers, and the love fest will continue. If your son or daughter loves mysteries, puzzles, wordplay, disguises, and trying to solve the murder before the characters do, this is an absolute must-read.

An odd group of tenants are moving into an even odder apartment building, Sunset Towers. Living in a nearby mansion is the eccentric millionaire, Samuel Westing. When Westing dies under mysterious circumstances, the 16 residents of Sunset Towers discover they are all heirs to Westing’s massive fortune and that one of them…is the murderer. The heirs are broken up into murder-solving pairs and given bizarre sets of clues. The pair that solves the mystery will inherit Mr. Westing’s entire $200 million estate. Let the game begin!

I hope your kiddo will enjoy THE WESTING GAME as much as I have. If you are on your best behavior, maybe they’ll even let you borrow it after they’ve finished. I re-read it when I gifted it to my nephew, and I simply could not put it down.